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<title>Two Wrongs Make a Right by cdenzelj</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28209102">Two Wrongs Make a Right</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/cdenzelj/pseuds/cdenzelj'>cdenzelj</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>CSI: Crime Scene Investigation</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-11 00:34:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>602</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28209102</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/cdenzelj/pseuds/cdenzelj</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Two Wrongs Make a Right</h2></a>
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    <p>“You’re kidding! So, you’ve never dated someone you work with? Even someone on your level?”</p><p>“Well, no. It kinda messes things up. Besides, if you haven’t noticed, we’re all a little screwed up in the head,” he said, tapping his temple. She laughed, slowly shaking her head. “Well, it’s true! You tell me you don’t listen to True Crime podcasts sometimes when you have a minute.”</p><p>“I’m not debating we’re all messed up, Nick. I’m laughing because of what you consider ‘messed up’. It’s true, there isn’t a single criminologist I’ve met that doesn’t have a case that sticks with them their whole life. But we get up every day and we keep going like anyone else at any other job. The only difference is, <em>we’re </em>actually the ones looking for the crazies.” He lowered his head, cocking his jaw as he thought this through. “There are a lot of them, too. Bus drivers, teachers, construction workers… They all have things in their lives that push them over the edge. The only difference with our job is that it helps to back each other up. Find that common thread of screwed up we all have and talk about it with each other.” She slowed her pace a bit, leaning her hip into his side so he’d look into her eyes. “You can’t tell me that you don’t hear the screams. At night, when you’re all alone? The things that wake you up like ice in your blood? You mean to tell me you’d deal with it all by yourself rather than talking it over with your school teacher girlfriend?”</p><p>He opened his mouth to speak, but his tongue was chained to the floor of his mouth.</p><p>“You know how many times a day I get catcalled? And I don’t pay them a shred of my time, know why?” He shook his head lowly, his gaze fixed on the intensity in her eyes. “No one wants a slightly off woman who has epilepsy. They hear what I have to say and they see just… damaged goods.” He felt like he’d just swallowed a pool ball. An icy chill raced all over his skin, coiling around his heart like barbed wire. “But when I talk to my crew… When I can sit down and explain <em>why </em>I’m like this… it doesn’t even crack the top hundred saddest things they’ve ever heard.”</p><p>He swallowed hard, forcing his eyes away from her. “Honestly… There was a time… When I was that kind of man. I wanted a girl that was flawless. Or at least, didn’t have any of the same flaws I did. I’d have thought ‘well what happens if I fall in love with her and she dies? Could I handle it?”</p><p>“People die every day, Nick. Perfectly healthy people. They’re here one minute and… gone the next. And me, with my damaged brain, have outlived them thusfar. So no one can really tell what’s going to happen. But you can’t deny yourself some sunshine just because you work in the dark.” She came around in front of him and touched his cheek. “The biggest mistake we make in life is living like we have time. And we certainly don’t need to be wasting it on people we can’t count on.”</p><p>He smiled warmly, wrapping her in his arms. “If I can learn… Can I count on you to do the same if I stroke out or have a heart attack?”</p><p>She put her hands on his face, leaning in to kiss him softly. “That’s the difference between a girlfriend and a one-night stand, Honey.”</p>
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